Link Boxers: Facebook Pages, Online Learning in Minnesota and a Coach says knock off the Tweeting

In this edition of the Boxers, we assiduously avoid the Black Friday advertising and the radio stations that have already started their all Christmas programming.

Facebook on Pageview Data Changes: We Did It For Your Own Good

This much is not in dispute: In September, there were some changes made to Facebook’s EdgeRank. At the time, the blogosphere worked itself into a rather public lather accusing the now-publicly traded Facebook of trying to force Page administrators to buy ads and use the new promote your status feature.

Now a report from Techcrunch calls those earlier protestations bunk. The social giant was merely tweaking Edgerank to punish spammy pages, Techcrunch says. “Basically if you never click, like, comment, or share posts by a Page, Facebook made that Page less likely to show up in your feed,” Techcrunch says. In essence, Facebook says it’s trying to save us from too much marketing.

The strategy, however, poses some problems for higher ed pages where often significant portions of the fan base are reading a page for information. The solution may be to create more engaging post, but one still has to wonder if a page can wind up being punished just for providing too much information.

Minnesota in a gopher hole when it comes to online learning?

The Land of 10,000 Lakes (a.k.a., Minnesota) caused a stir last month when online learning company Coursera said the state’s Office of Higher Education informed it the company would not be able to offer courses to its residents. GigaOm says the trouble stems from a 20 year-old policy that “requires universities offering instruction to Minnesota residents to receive authorization from the state.”

But the problem may be on its way to being solved. The Washington Post reports that Minnesota officials will work on fixing the policy in the legislature, and encourage Minnesotans to available themselves of free online educational offerings.

“When the legislature convenes in January, my intent is to work with the Governor and Legislature to appropriately update the statute to meet modern-day circumstances,” Larry Pogemiller director of the Office of Higher Education told the Post. “Until that time, I see no reason for our office to require registration of free, not-for-credit offerings.”

Photo by smitchco, Flickr

Coach cracks down on the Twitters.

Mike Leach has made a name for himself for his high octane offenses and quirky personality. But last month the Washington State football coach made headlines for banning his players from Twitter, after some players posted vulgar tweets.

“Quite frankly, if after today you see anything on Twitter from our team, and I don’t care if it says, ‘I love life,’ I would like to see it because I will suspend them,” Leach said in announcing the crackdown according to Forbes. While Leach took some First Amendment heat, after seeing this tweet from Ohio State QB Cardale Jones, its easy to think Leach is on to something. Does your school have a social media policy for its athletes?